In this research project, I examine the politics of transcription and musical notation within Hindustani classical music through the lens of my own practice as an outsider student learning the bandish Chanchal Chatur in Raag Bhopali. By experimenting with both a digital Bhatkhande table and Western pentagram transcription, I map out how these standard inscription systems carry inherent colonial legacies, ideological biases, and severe structural limitations. Neither system can faithfully capture the cyclical nature of the tal, the microtonal glides, or the deeply embodied oral tradition of sīna-basīna learning.
To bridge this gap, my research pivots into transdisciplinary art and visual translation.
I first developed a personalised graphic notation system using shapes, metaphors,
and symbols to capture the physical, extra-musical qualities of the voice. I then extended this exploration of sound and movement through long-exposure photography, attaching LED lights to my hands to physically trace my gestures during alap and bandish improvisations. Expanding on this cross-modal exploration, I engaged in an ink-painting experiment during an active listening of Kishori Amonkar’s rendition of Raag Bhopali, inspired by the historical lineage of ragamala paintings, rooted in cross-sensorial experience. Using fluid ink to break away from the rigid control of oil paints, while restricting myself to a single colour, I tried to map the balance I seek during improvisation between my own decisions and the flow of the raag. Ultimately, this work argues that transdisciplinary art can serve as a vital ethnomusicological tool, not to objectively measure sound, but to critically negotiate the power dynamics of interpretation and document the raw, embodied relationship between the researcher and the tradition.